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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Accumulation of Large Ion Populations with High Ion Densities and Effects Due to Space Charge in Traveling Wave-Based Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations (SLIM) IMS-MS

The accumulation of very large ion populations in traveling wave (TW)-based Structures for Lossless ion Manipulations (SLIM) has been studied to better understand aspects of ‘in-SLIM’ ion accumulation, and particularly its use in conjunction with ion mobility spectrometry (IMS). A linear SLIM ion path was implemented that had a ‘gate’ for blocking and accumulating ions for arbitrary time periods. Removing the gate potential caused ions to exit and the spatial distributions of accumulated ions were examined. The ion populations for a set of peptides were observed to increase with increased accumulation times until space change effects became significant, after which the peptide precursor ion populations decreased due to growing space charge-related ion activation, reactions, and losses. Ions closest to the gate were preferentially activated, and increasingly so with added storage times, TW amplitude, and the size of the total ion population. For analytical applications, we found that relatively weak TWs in the accumulation/storage region should be utilized to prevent or minimize ion losses and/or ion heating effects that can also lead to fragmentation. Our results further indicate that an accumulation region close to the SLIM entrance is advantageous for both speeding accumulation, minimizing ion heating, and avoiding ion population profiles that result in IMS peak tailing. Importantly, space charge-driven separations were observed for large populations of accumulated species and attributed to the opposing effects of space charge and the TW. In these separations, ion species form distributions or peaks, sometimes moving against the TW, and ordered in the SLIM based on their mobilities. Such separations may offer utility for ion pre-fractionation of ions and increasing the dynamic range measurements, increasing the resolving power of IMS separations by decreasing peak widths for accumulated ion populations, and other purposes benefitting from separations of extremely large ion populations.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

In situ high-energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction revealing precipitation reaction kinetics of silver ions with mixed halide ions

Precipitation of silver ions simultaneously with chloride and bromide ions in ethylene glycol at a mild temperature (e.g., 60 degrees C) has been successfully demonstrated for the synthesis of silver chlorobromide (AgClxBr1-x, 0 < x < 1) nanoparticles, which is realized by injecting a AgNO3 solution into a solution containing both halogen ions. The injection rate of the AgNO3 solution has been determined to be critical for controlling the uniformity of AgClxBr1-x nanoparticles. Time-resolved in situ high-energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction has been applied, for the first time, to quantitatively monitor the reaction kinetics of nanocrystal formation. The real-time results shed light on the fact that the injection rate of AgNO3 solution significantly influences the nucleation and growth processes, and thus the quality of resulting AgClxBr1-x nanoparticles. Specifically, fast injection enables the complete addition of AgNO3 solution to the reaction solution before the nucleation process starts, leading to a good separation of nucleation and growth and thus the formation of uniform AgClxBr1-x nanocubes with well-defined composition and narrow size distribution. By contrast, slow injection results in a continuous addition of AgNO3 solution to the reaction solution even after nucleation starts, leading to continuous multiple nucleation/growth processes and thus the formation of AgClxBr1-x nanoparticles with broad dimensional and morphological distributions.

Liu, Qi↗
DOE OSTI2019

Cluster ion source for external injection and high capacity filling of light elements into the relativistic heavy ion collider electron beam ion source

An advanced Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS) is the primary ion source to supply highly charged ion beams of different elements to the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and to the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL). Intense beams of highly charged ions of various elements of the periodic table, ranging from helium to uranium, have been demonstrated since EBIS became operational in 2010. EBIS routinely provides ion beams to RHIC and NSRL quasisimultaneously with about 1 s switching time between different ion species. Such unique flexibility and rapid switching between ion species are based on external injection of singly charged ions into the EBIS trap either in “fast” or “slow” injection modes. At present, a Laser Ion Source (LIS) provides most of the ion species of solid materials using the “fast” injection mode into the EBIS trap and a Hollow Cathode Ion Source (HCIS) provides most of the ion species of gaseous elements using the “slow” injection mode into the EBIS trap. Gas injection into the EBIS trap is also possible and has been used but imposes some restrictions for the simultaneous generation of highly charged ions such as Au 32+ ions for RHIC and ions of gaseous species for NSRL. Because light ions have relatively high velocity inside the EBIS trap, efficient injection of hydrogen and helium ions and filling of the EBIS trap to high capacity is difficult from either LIS or HCIS. To overcome this restriction and enhance EBIS operational capability, we suggest injecting beams of hydrogen and helium cluster ions into the EBIS trap. Required parameters of cluster ion beam injection into the EBIS trap are estimated, and advantages of such an injection are highlighted. A cluster ion source with required high intensity is visible and will be designed, built, optimized, and tested.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Dual Polarity Ion Confinement and Mobility Separations

Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations (SLIM) have been rapidly gaining prominence for applications where ultra-high resolution Ion Mobility (IM) separations are desired to provide performance features and information unattainable using the currently available IM platforms. Although most routine analyses are done in either positive or negative polarity modes, there are significant benefits to both, potentially making them highly complementary if performed simultaneously. In the effort to develop a robust dual polarity IM platform, we explored an evaluation of a novel SLIM platform developed to perform simultaneous cationic and anionic IM separations (i.e. without requiring polarity switching).

Attah, Isaac K.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Activation behavior for ion permeation in ion-exchange membranes: Role of ion dehydration in selective transport

Here we explored the mechanisms governing the selectivity of anion- and cation-exchange membranes for the transport of four monovalent anions (i.e., fluoride, chloride, bromide, and nitrate) and four monovalent cations (i.e., sodium, potassium, cesium, and ammonium), respectively. Our ion adsorption and transport tests with mixed ion solutions reveal that an ion with larger ionic radius and lower hydration energy is more favorably adsorbed onto the ion-exchange membrane but diffuses more slowly through the polymer matrix compared to an ion with smaller ionic radius and higher hydration energy. Individual anion (as sodium salt) or cation (as chloride salt) permeation tests at different temperatures were performed to evaluate the activation behavior of ion transport through the ion-exchange membranes by calculating the energy barrier and pre-exponential factor (i.e., the ion flux when the energy barrier is negligible) for ion transport from an Arrhenius-type equation. Our results show that an ion with smaller ionic radius and higher hydration energy experiences higher energy barrier (e.g., fluoride, 10.3 kcal mol -1 ) and possesses higher pre-exponential factor compared to an ion with larger ionic radius and lower hydration energy (e.g., bromide, 4.6 kcal mol -1 ). This correlation corroborates our main hypothesis that the activation behavior observed for ion transport is a result of ion dehydration at the water-membrane interface. Our proposed ion selectivity mechanism elucidates how ion dehydration governs the extent of ion permeation into the membrane and the subsequent transport through the charged polymer matrix. Future membrane design that promotes dehydration of target ions is challenging but can result in unprecedented ion selectivity.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Characterization of swift heavy ion irradiation damage in ceria

We have examined microstructural evolution in irradiated ceria (CeO2) using swift heavy ion irradiation, electron microscopy, and atomistic simulation. CeO2, a UO2 fuel surrogate, was irradiated with gold ions at an energy of 1 GeV to fluences up to 1x1014 ions/cm2. Transmission electron microscopy accompanied by electron energy loss spectroscopy showed that the ion tracks were of similar size at all fluences, and that there was no chemical change in the ion track core. Classical molecular dynamics simulations of thermal spikes in CeO2 with energy deposition of 12 and 36 keV/nm show damage consisting of isolated point defects at the lower energy and defect clusters at 36 keV/nm, with no amorphization at either energy. Inferences are drawn from modeling about density changes in the ion track and the formation of interstitial loops that shed light on features observed by electron microscopy of swift heavy ion irradiated ceria.

Yablinsky, Clarissa↗
DOE OSTI2014

Investigation of ion kinetic effects in direct-drive exploding-pusher implosions at the NIF

Measurements of yield, ion temperature, areal density (ρR), shell convergence, and bang time have been obtained in shock-driven, D 2 and D 3 He gas-filled “exploding-pusher” inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions at the National Ignition Facility to assess the impact of ion kinetic effects. These measurements probed the shock convergence phase of ICF implosions, a critical stage in hot-spot ignition experiments. The data complement previous studies of kinetic effects in shock-driven implosions. Ion temperature and fuel ρR inferred from fusion-product spectroscopy are used to estimate the ion-ion mean free path in the gas. A trend of decreasing yields relative to the predictions of 2D draco hydrodynamics simulations with increasing Knudsen number (the ratio of ion-ion mean free path to minimum shell radius) suggests that ion kinetic effects are increasingly impacting the hot fuel region, in general agreement with previous results. Lastly, the long mean free path conditions giving rise to ion kinetic effects in the gas are often prevalent during the shock phase of both exploding pushers and ablatively driven implosions, including ignition-relevant implosions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Nonlinear luminescence response of CaF{sub 2}:Eu and YAlO{sub 3}:Ce to single-ion excitation

Understanding scintillation physics and nonproportionality is essential to accelerate materials discovery that has been restricted due to the difficulties inherent to large crystal growth and complex nature of gamma-solid interaction. Taking advantage of less restrictive growth and deposition techniques for smaller crystal sizes or thin films and better fundamental understanding of ion-solid interactions, a unique ion approach is demonstrated to effectively screen candidate scintillators with relatively small size and evaluate their nonlinear scintillation response. Response of CaF{sub 2}:Eu and YAlO{sub 3}:Ce scintillators to single ions of H{sup +}, He{sup +}, and O{sup 3+} are measured by the corresponding pulse height over a continuous energy range using a time-of-flight–scintillator–photoelectric multiplier tube apparatus. Nonlinear response of the scintillators under ionizing ion irradiation is quantitatively evaluated by considering the energy partitioning process. In a differential energy deposition region with negligible displacement damage, the low, medium and high excitation energy deposition density (D{sub exci}) can be produced by energetic H{sup +}, He{sup +} and O{sup 3+} ions, respectively, and significantly different impacts on the response characteristics of these two benchmark scintillators are observed. For CaF{sub 2}:Eu, the scintillation efficiency under ion irradiation monotonically decreases with increasing excitation-energy density. In contrast, the response efficiency of YAlO{sub 3}:Ce scintillation initially increases with excitation-energy density at low excitation-energy densities, goes through a maximum, and then decreases with further increasing excitation-energy density. The fundamental mechanism causing these different response behaviours in the scintillators is based on the competition between the scintillation response and the nonradiative quenching process under different excitation densities, which is also the main origin of the nonlinear response of the scintillators to irradiation.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

Comparison Between Simulated And Experimental Au-ion Profiles Implanted in nanocrystalline ceria

Radiation response of nanocrystalline ceria films deposited on a silicon substrate was investigated under a 3-MeV Au-ion irradiation at 300 K. A uniform grain growth cross the ceria films is observed and effective densification of the ceria thin films occurs during irradiation. The Au ion profiling was measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and compared to the Au ion distribution predicted by the Stopping and Range of Ions in Solids (SRIM) code. It is observed that the Au-ion penetration depth is underestimated in comparison with the SIMS measurements. An overestimation of the electronic stopping power for heavy incident ions in the SRIM program may account for the discrepancies between the calculations and the SIMS experimental results. This work presents an approach to compensate the overestimation of the electronic stopping powers in the SRIM program by adjusting the nanocrystalline ceria target density to better predict the ion implantation profile.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2020

Ion Mobility Spectrometry with High Ion Utilization Efficiency Using Traveling Wave-Based Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations

Ion packets introduced from gates, ion funnel traps, and other conventional ion injection mechanisms produce ion pulse widths typically around a few microseconds or less for ion mobility spectrometry (IMS)-based separations on the order of 100 milliseconds. When such ion injection techniques are coupled with ultralong path length traveling wave (TW)-based IMS separations (i.e., on the order of seconds) using structures for lossless ion manipulations (SLIMs), typically very low ion utilization efficiency is achieved for continuous ion sources [e.g., electrospray ionization (ESI)]. Even with the ability to trap and accumulate much larger populations of ions than being conventionally feasible over longer time periods in SLIM devices, the subsequent long separations lead to overall low ion utilization. In this study, we report the use of a highly flexible SLIM arrangement, enabling concurrent ion accumulation and separation and achieving near-complete ion utilization with ESI. We characterize the ion accumulation process in SLIM, demonstrate >98% ion utilization, and show both increased signal intensities and measurement throughput. This approach is envisioned to have broad utility to applications, for example, involving the fast detection of trace chemical species.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS2011

Atomic ion clock with two ion traps, and method to transfer ions

An atomic ion clock with a first ion trap and a second ion trap, where the second ion trap is of higher order than the first ion trap. In one embodiment, ions may be shuttled back and forth from one ion trap to the other by application of voltage ramps to the electrodes in the ion traps, where microwave interrogation takes place when the ions are in the second ion trap, and fluorescence is induced and measured when the ions are in the first ion trap. In one embodiment, the RF voltages applied to the second ion trap to contain the ions are at a higher frequency than that applied to the first ion trap. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Prestage, John D.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Ion beam enhancement in magnetically insulated ion diodes for high-intensity pulsed ion beam generation in non-relativistic mode

High-intensity pulsed ion beam (HIPIB) with ion current density above Child-Langmuir limit is achieved by extracting ion beam from anode plasma of ion diodes with suppressing electron flow under magnetic field insulation. It was theoretically estimated that with increasing the magnetic field, a maximal value of ion current density may reach nearly 3 times that of Child-Langmuir limit in a non-relativistic mode and close to 6 times in a highly relativistic mode. In this study, the behavior of ion beam enhancement by magnetic insulation is systematically investigated in three types of magnetically insulated ion diodes (MIDs) with passive anode, taking into account the anode plasma generation process on the anode surface. A maximal enhancement factor higher than 6 over the Child-Langmuir limit can be obtained in the non-relativistic mode with accelerating voltage of 200–300 kV. The MIDs differ in two anode plasma formation mechanisms, i.e., surface flashover of a dielectric coating on the anode and explosive emission of electrons from the anode, as well as in two insulation modes of external-magnetic field and self-magnetic field with either non-closed or closed drift of electrons in the anode-cathode (A-K) gap, respectively. Combined with ion current density measurement, energy density characterization is employed to resolve the spatial distribution of energy density before focusing for exploring the ion beam generation process. Consistent results are obtained on three types of MIDs concerning control of neutralizing electron flows for the space charge of ions where the high ion beam enhancement is determined by effective electron neutralization in the A-K gap, while the HIPIB composition of different ion species downstream from the diode may be considerably affected by the ion beam neutralization during propagation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Fast and efficient charge breeding of the Californium rare isotope breeder upgrade electron beam ion source

The Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS), developed to breed Californium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) radioactive beams at Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS), is being tested off-line. A unique property of the EBIS is a combination of short breeding times, high repetition rates, and a large acceptance. Overall, we have implemented many innovative features during the design and construction of the CARIBU EBIS as compared to the existing EBIS breeders. The off-line charge breeding tests are being performed using a surface ionization source that produces singly charged cesium ions. The main goal of the off-line commissioning is to demonstrate stable operation of the EBIS at a 10 Hz repetition rate and a breeding efficiency into single charge state higher than 15%. These goals have been successfully achieved and exceeded. We have measured (20% ± 0.7%) breeding efficiency into the single charge state of 28+ cesium ions with the breeding time of 28 ms. In general, the current CARIBU EBIS operational parameters can provide charge breeding of any ions in the full mass range of periodic table with high efficiency, short breeding times, and sufficiently low charge-to-mass ratio, 1/6.3 for the heaviest masses, for further acceleration in ATLAS. In this study, we discuss the parameters of the EBIS and the charge breeding results in a pulsed injection mode with repetition rates up to 10 Hz.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Ion aggregation in high salt solutions: Ion network versus ion cluster

The critical aggregation phenomena are ubiquitous in many self-assembling systems. Ions in high salt solutions could also spontaneously form larger ion aggregates, but their effects on hydrogen-bond structures in water have long been controversial. Here, carrying out molecular dynamics (MD) simulation studies of high salt solutions and comparing the MD simulation results with infrared absorption and pump-probe spectroscopy of O–D stretch mode of HDO in highly concentrated salt solutions and {sup 13}C-NMR chemical shift of S{sup 13}CN{sup −} in KSCN solutions, we find evidence on the onset of ion aggregate and large-scale ion-ion network formation that concomitantly breaks water hydrogen-bond structure in certain salt solutions. Despite that these experimental results cannot provide direct evidence on the three-dimensional morphological structures of ion aggregates, they serve as reference data for verifying MD simulation methods. The MD results suggest that disrupted water hydrogen-bond network is intricately intertwined with ion-ion network. This further shows morphological variation of ion aggregate structures from ion cluster to ion network in high salt solutions that are interrelated to the onset of macroscopic aggregate formation and the water hydrogen-bond structure making and breaking processes induced by Hofmeister ions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Ion energy distribution in an electron beam ion trap inferred from simulations of the trapped ion cloud

For this work, we have inferred the energy distribution of trapped ions in an electron beam ion trap (EBIT) from simulations of the spatial distribution of Fe 13+ ions and a comparison with measured visible light images of the ion cloud. We simulated the cloud of Fe 13+ ions by computing ion trajectories in the EBIT for different ion energy distributions used to initialize the trajectories. We then performed a least-squares fit to infer the ion energy distribution that best reproduced the measured ion cloud. These best-fit distributions were typically non-Maxwellian. For electron beam energies of 395–475 eV and electron beam currents of 1–9 mA, we find that the average ion energy is in the range of 10–300 eV. We also find that the average ion energy increases with increasing beam current approximately as $\langle$E$\rangle$ ≈ 25 I e eV, where I e is the electron beam current in mA. We have also compared our results to Maxwell-Boltzmann-distribution ion clouds. We find that our best-fit non-thermal distributions have an $\langle$E$\rangle$ that is less than half that of the T from the best-fit Maxwell-Boltzmann distributions ($\langle$E$\rangle$/q)/T=0.41 ± 0.05.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

A one-dimensional ion beam figuring system for x-ray mirror fabrication

We report on the development of a one-dimensional Ion Beam Figuring (IBF) system for x-ray mirror polishing. Ion beam figuring provides a highly deterministic method for the final precision figuring of optical components with advantages over conventional methods. The system is based on a state of the art sputtering deposition system outfitted with a gridded radio frequency inductive coupled plasma ion beam source equipped with ion optics and dedicated slit developed specifically for this application. Here, the production of an IBF system able to produce an elongated removal function rather than circular is presented in this paper, where we describe in detail the technical aspect and present the first obtained results.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗